USE CASE

AI Agents for Sales Teams

Automate lead qualification, follow-ups, and pipeline reporting—with human oversight for the deals that matter.

December 15, 2025•USE CASE

According to Salesforce's State of Sales Report, your sales team spends over 70% of their time on tasks that don't directly close deals. Data entry. Research. Follow-up emails. CRM updates. Pipeline reports.

AI agents can handle all of it—while keeping you in control of the conversations that actually matter.

Here's how top sales teams are using AI agents to automate the busywork and focus on selling.

The sales time trap

Studies show sales reps spend only 28% of their time actually selling. The rest?

21%

Writing emails

17%

CRM data entry

17%

Lead research

12%

Internal meetings

Source: Salesforce State of Sales Report Salesforce State of Sales Report

These tasks are necessary—but they don't need a human. They need an agent that understands your sales process and can execute reliably.

5 sales tasks perfect for AI agents

1. Lead qualification and scoring

When a new lead comes in, an agent can instantly research the company, check fit against your ICP, enrich with firmographic data, and assign a score. High-intent leads get routed immediately; lower-priority leads go to nurture sequences.

Example agent conversation:

Agent: New lead from Acme Corp. 500 employees, Series C, tech industry. Matches your ICP. Website shows they're using a competitor. Score: 87/100. Routing to Sarah.

2. Follow-up email sequences

Agents can draft personalized follow-ups based on previous conversations, deal stage, and prospect behavior. They reference specific pain points discussed, include relevant case studies, and time messages for optimal engagement.

With human approval:

Agent: Draft ready for Mike at TechCorp. He mentioned integration concerns last call—I've included our API docs and the Stripe case study. Send now?

You: Looks good. Send it.

3. CRM data entry and hygiene

After every call or email, agents automatically update your CRM—logging activities, updating deal stages, adding notes, and flagging missing information. No more end-of-week data entry marathons.

Automatic updates:

Call with Acme logged (32 min)

Deal moved to "Proposal Sent"

Next step: Follow up Wednesday

Note added: "Concerned about implementation timeline"

4. Pipeline reporting and forecasting

Weekly pipeline reports, generated automatically. Total value by stage, week-over-week changes, deals at risk, and forecast accuracy. Delivered to your inbox every Monday morning.

Weekly report example:

Pipeline: $2.4M (+12% WoW)

Closing this month: $890K (73% confidence)

At risk: 3 deals haven't moved in 14+ days

Top opportunity: Acme Corp ($125K, demo Thursday)

5. Competitive intelligence

Before important calls, agents research the prospect's current tools, recent news, and competitive landscape. You walk into every meeting prepared.

Pre-call brief:

Current stack: Using Competitor X (contract ends Q2)

Recent news: Just raised Series B, expanding sales team

Pain points: Reviews mention poor support, limited integrations

Suggested angle: Lead with integration capabilities and support SLAs

Human-in-the-loop for high-stakes moments

The fear with sales automation is losing the human touch—especially on deals that matter. That's why guardrails are essential.

You decide what runs automatically and what needs approval:

Automatic:

Lead scoring, CRM updates, internal reports

Review first:

External emails, proposal drafts, pricing discussions

When an agent drafts a follow-up email for a $100K deal, it doesn't just send. It pings you on Slack: "Ready to send to Mike at TechCorp. Want to review?" You approve, edit, or reject—and the agent learns your preferences.